Cellular networks are typically capable of determining the locations of User Equipment (UE). Location information for a UE can be used for many purposes, such as delivering location-specific information to users. One field that benefits from accurate location information for UEs is emergency services.
There are many challenges associated with determining locations for UE. Multiple operators provide cellular service to the same geographic areas, so mechanisms that are limited to a single network can only discover a fraction of UEs that are present in a given area. In addition, a portion of the UEs are in idle mode at any given time, which limits the extent to which the UEs can communicate.